Realisation
by eimeark
Summary: Jack comes to an important realisation.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Realisation

**Author:** eimeark / Eimear

**Summary:** Jack comes to an important realisation.

**Word Count:** Over 2000

**Disclaimer:** None of this is mine except for the Ronima.

**AN:** Guys, I had originally written and posted this on livejournal as a LuRe Torchwood crossover but it didn't work too well so I decided to reword little bits of it and post it here. I know there are times when they are OOC but sure ah well! Unbeta-d so all mistakes are mine!

**Chapter 1**

Gwen Cooper pushed open the door to her flat that she shared with her partner Rhys Williams. She was utterly exhausted and all the could do at the minute was fantasize about the nice warm bed that was calling out to her. Though, first she needed to take a shower. She smelled awful and she had shit all over her.

She remembered the fight with the Ronima earlier. The Ronima came through the rift that morning and herself and Jack went to deal with it. The PDA showed that the signal emitting from the, then unknown, alien was moving, fast. They followed the signal and ended up at an old pub which was close to tumbling. The walls were damp and chipped and the roof looked as if it was about to fall in on them.

"Right, do we have a plan of action Jack?" Gwenlooked to Jack in want of a game plan but by the look on Jack's face, she knew she wasn't going to get one.

"Lets just wing it." Gwen was shocked, to say the least, at Jack's pitiful suggestion. They were about to march into a pub full of people, all guns blazing, to find an alien that is designed to camouflage itself in the face of danger. And they were going to wing it? Not good. But then again, she wasn't coming up with anything better so, they were just going to have to go with the flow and see what happened!

It was at that moment the alien chose to reveal its true form to the chilled out drinkers in the bar. The blood curdling scream that came from the pub could be heard 50 miles away. At least, that's what Gwen thought. There was a loud crash and Gwen looked at the door in time to see the swoosh of the captains coat behind it.

She followed Jack into the pub. When she looked around, she couldn't help the giggle that emerged from her lips. As she took in the sight, the giggles turned into laughter which then escalated to the point of torture when she sported a full on belly laugh that would have put Jack Harkness to shame. She suddenly found it hard to breathe and started spluttering and coughing, proving that laughing too hard can in fact be dangerous! She looked around the pub, able to contain her laughter again, and tried to comprehend exactly what had happened.

The Ronima had anticipated Jack's arrival and when Gwen arrived, Jack was hanging from the wooden fan underneath the lights of the pub wearing only a luminous pink tutu. The situation wasn't even that funny. It was just the shock of seeing her boss so disheveled and clueless as to what to do that made it so funny in Gwen's eyes.

What she failed to notice though was that while she was teasing Jack for his obvious lack of control in the situation, the Ronima had downed around thirteen Vodka shots in quick succession. She turned around just in time for the Ronima to open it's large mouth and spew it's guts all over her. Naturally, she squirmed when she felt the alien vomit hit her designer outfit, not to mention the shoes. She looked down to inspect herself and, upon seeing the blue and purple slime covering her, let out a cry of frustration. This time it was Jack's turn to laugh.

"Shut it or you can find your own way down from there, Nutcracker."

Gwen threw the filthiest look she could muster up in his direction. It was only then that she remembered the other customers in the pub. She looked around the crowd and saw that they wouldn't need to be retconned and the majority of them were either too drunk to take any notice of the spectacle that had unfolded in front of their eyes or slumped unconscious wherever their bodies would fit.

"Ahem, as much as I like dangling from a fan 5 feet about the ground, I want to feel the ground. Now." Gwen's concentration levels weren't up to scratch that night so it took her a while to register the fact that Jack was doing two things at once, asking her a question and shaking his head in annoyance at her. She processed Reid's request in er head and went to fetch a relatively strong, sober man that could aid her in the hard task of attempting to release the captain from his dilemma. Gwen made sure to take a few pictures on her phone of the occasion though, explaining to Jack that Ianto would have a good laugh when he saw his lover in such a shameful and undignified position.

Once Jack was safely on the ground, they hoisted the now unconscious Ronima onto Jack's shoulder and walked out to the SUV. With the Ronima tucked away in the boot of the large vehicle, Gwen asked Jack to bring her straight home so she could take a shower to try and rid herself of the foul smell that lingered on her now. Jack drove the SUV out to Gwen's house and dropped her off telling her that he'd sort the Ronima out with a cell for the night and leaving her with strict orders to get some rest and enjoy her alone time with Chris as it rarely ever happened.

Gwen was snapped out of her reverie when she felt two hands rest against her hips from behind and a pair of soft lips kissing her neck.

"Hiya." Gwen turned to face her partner of a few years and tenderly kissed him.

"You coming to bed, Gwen?"

Gwen didn't need to be asked twice, her eagerness evident in the way she grabbed his hands and practically pulled him in the direction of the bedroom. Suddenly, Rhys stopped, his nose sniffing the air.

"What on earth have you been doing Katie? You smell worse than a pig with diarrhoea and a farting problem. I ain't coming near ya till you're clean again."

Gwen groaned and, grabbing two towels from the hotpress, made her way to the bathroom with the intention of staying under the hot, steaming water for as long as humanly possible. Eventually, she found the strength to pull out from under the trickle of water and quickly dried herself off. She went to the bedroom and climbed into bed beside Rhys, immediately snuggling into his welcoming arms.

"It's moments like these that make the horrors of this job bearable." This was the last thought in Gwen's head as she drifted off into a deep slumber.


	2. Chapter 2

After Jack had dropped Gwen home, he raced back to the hub, completely ignoring the speed limit. He had a tendency to do that a lot. When he reached the specially built Torchwood car park, he parked the SUV clumsily and walked over to the door to the hub. After punching in the code, the door opened and Jack stepped into the lift that would bring him down to the main level of the hub. When the lift opened, the certain man he was searching for was nowhere to be seen. This left Jack puzzled. Ianto was always waiting for him when he got back from a call, if he didn't go with him. Always. Jack called out, but his shout was met by a cold silence that hurt Jack's ears.

He stalked up to his office to sulk, thinking that Ianto had just left and gone home without him. He opened the door and smiled at the sight before him. Ianto Jones was slumped in Jack's chair, sleeping peacefully, his head resting on the side of the chair. Jack noticed that the CCTV feed was on the screen which meant that Ianto was, at least, watching and waiting for him to get back. He mentally slapped himself for doubting Ianto. As if on instinct, Jack pulled off his jacket and draped it across the sleeping man, careful not to wake him. It didn't work.

"Jack?" The exhaustion in Ianto's voice was extremely evident and Jack realized just how much work Ianto did around the hub. He looked down and smiled.

"Hey. Do you want to go back to your flat tonight or stay here? You look like you could do with a long sleep!"

Ianto considered his options and decided to get himself to the closest bed he could find, which just happened to be right underneath him. He heard a click and knew that Jack had figured out his answer and was opening the hatch door that leads down to his bedroom. Ianto climbed tiredly out of the chair and walked over to Jack, slipping his arms around his waist. He felt Jack turn slightly in the embrace and smirked when he saw Jack lean towards him and place a small kiss on his lips. Jack climbed down the ladder first, motioning for Ianto to follow. Ianto did not hesitate. He followed Jack down to his bunker and allowed Jack to strip him of his clothes. Ianto pulled back the covers and slipped into the familiar bed, the smell of Jack lingering on the pillows, making Ianto inhale in delight. Jack wasted no time and was soon lying in the bed, with Ianto curled around him. Jack found himself softly stroking Ianto's hair and soon realized that the young man was positively fast asleep.

For the first time since he got back, he registered how late it must be and checked the clock on the wall. It read 3.45 AM. Jack hadn't realized how late it actually was. He clicked that Ianto had waited up for him until the early hours of the morning, slightly reveling in the fact that someone cared enough for him to stay awake longer than usual.

He smiled and placed a soft kiss on Ianto's head. Ianto's grip on his waist tightened and the low hum of pleasure that emerged from his lips was barely audible but Jack heard it loud and clear.

Jack wouldn't admit it, but secretly, he craved love. He had been in love before and it made him feel good. He loved the idea of someone wanting to be with him, to hold him when he was upset, to kiss away the tears when he wept, to laugh with him in the most joyous of times, to prevent him being lonely and to just be there with him in general. Jack examined Ianto. Breathing in his scent. He smelt of coffee, paper, cleaning detergent and just, Ianto. It smelt good. Very good.

That night, he thought about The things they had gone through together, even if they had not actually been together at the time.

_Ianto being sent to work for a new Torchwood team. _

Ianto had liked where he was. He was working with another Torchwood team in Glasgow when he was relocated to Cardiff.

_Meeting Ianto. _

Their first meeting didn't go quite as planned. Jack laughed as he recalled it.

Ianto turned up at the hub only to find that the code he was given for the door didn't work. He ended up having to ring the hub's telephone and tell them to open the door.

When he got down to the main level of the hub, he introduced himself briefly and launched into a rant. 'Who changed the alarm codes and why?'

Jack left his office and went out to see what all the fuss was about.

"Well, if you would answer your phone or listen to your voice mail, you would know exactly why the codes were changed and you would know the code itself."

He stuck out his hand.

"Jack Harkness, team leader."

"Ianto Jones, new head archivist."

Ianto took his hand and shook it firmly.

_Himself and Ianto getting kidnapped. _

He and Ianto had been chasing an unknown energy source on the PDA for a while. Suddenly, it doubled back on itself and was right on top of him and Ianto. Ianto was grabbed first, then Jack. While they were held by their unknown captors, they had a chance to talk and worked out their issues with one another. They were eventually rescued by Gwen.

_Their first kiss._

Ianto had had a serious argument with his sister and turned up at the hub. He went in and told Jack everything about the argument. How his sister pressed him about information on his job. Jack knew how hard it was to keep his job a secret. His ego wanted him to scream it from the rooftops sometimes, but he just couldn't. Ianto found a stray tear running down his face and Jack couldn't help himself. He lifted a hand to Ianto's face, wiped away the tear and kissed him. It was brief but it was amazing.

_John._

God, Jack hated John. John was Jack's ex boyfriend. He showed up, out of the blue, one day. He tried causing trouble for him and Ianto, stirring things up. For a while, to Jack, it looked like John was going to try to get to Jack through Ianto. But they pulled through, in the end, and John left. This time for good.

Jack marveled at the fact that they had pulled through all of that as a couple. In all fairness, it was a pretty long list. He felt their relationship was stronger than ever. It was that moment, as he mentally listed all of Ianto's perfections and stroked his soft hair, that Jack Harkness realized something.

He was completely and utterly in love with Ianto Jones, Torchwood Archivist and Teaboy.


End file.
